“I think most people would really be surprised to find that there are buttons on phones that turn them off. If they really want to get away from work, push the button.” - B. Hager

“Most employees do not realize the slippery slope they’re on with the use of PDAs. If a company is providing a PDA and expects you to respond during off-work hours, you should be compensated for the impact to your leisure time. It is up to us all to set and maintain reasonable guidelines.” - J.Jones

“I just got my first PDA and find it to be liberating. I have Adult ADHD and would often think of things I need to do both at home and at work at the oddest times, and two minutes later I might struggle to remember what they were. With my PDA phone, I can enter my task into the phone right then. For the first time in my life, I felt caught up enough that I could take the family to the amusement park without that gnawing feeling that I should be doing something. Buying that PDA is probably the best money I have spent in a long time on technology.” - F. Kovach

This week’s question concerns a study that shows obesity can spread from person to person, like a virus. It indicated that when a person gains weight, close friends had a 171 percent increased chance of becoming obese as well. It did not even matter if the friend was hundreds of miles away, since friends affect each others’ perception of fatness. So, when a close friend becomes obese, obesity may not look so bad. The investigators say their findings can help explain why Americans have become fatter in recent years; namely, because each person who became obese was likely to drag along some friends. What do you think? Is obesity contagious?
Submit your answer here.

“Carl Sagan many years ago demonstrated that the chance of Earth being visited by an intelligent race was extremely remote due to our location in the universe. However, he did not rule it out totally because there may be some technology we don’t even know about that would make this a possibility.” - G. Goldbogen

“Yes, there probably is (or has been or will be) intelligent life somewhere in the universe. The question is whether we can ever detect it or travel there. Where in space or time is/was/will it be? A billion years ago or a billion years from now? Within 100 light-years distance from us? Thus, although intelligent life may well exist, we may never be able to detect them or communicate with them.” - Dr. M.J. Yoder

“If you mean violence-loving societies hell-bent on self-destruction, there are almost certainly billions, but intelligent ones? Probably none. We’re a universal blueprint.” - J. Adams

“So far, there has been no credible evidence of intelligent life beyond our planet. Frankly, I’m not convinced there’s credible evidence of intelligent life on OUR planet.” - M. Avery

This week’s question concerns a new survey conducted by Research in Motion, maker of the Blackberry, that found an average Blackberry user converts one hour of downtime to productive time each day, and increases overall team efficiency by 38 percent. But, the study also showed that the devices have a negative impact on the balance between work and life by making it more difficult to switch off from the office. What do you think? Do these devices contribute to working more and having less leisure and family time? Submit your answer here.

“If Ikea was truly concerned about the environment, they could either offer a recycling drop-off for the plastic bags or simply go to paper. My local supermarket gives a 10-cent discount for each paper bag I bring back to re-use when I shop, or if I bring a tote of my own.” - P. Carberry

“I admire IKEA’s honesty in stating up front that you’ll pay for harming the environment. The incentive is to do the sensible thing and protect the environment, plus IKEA is not profiting from this. And let’s be real — we pay for the bags.” - K. Grisso

“What most Americans hate is to give up any convenience. Everyone wants to think they are environmentally correct. The reality is that plastic packaging is slowly choking our land to death. Sooner or later we have to change the way we are living.” - D. Brasier

“I think it is great that IKEA is charging. I live in Taiwan, and every store charges a very small fee for plastic bags. I’ve noticed the streets and highways are cleaner, and I use cloth bags to carry home my purchases.” - T. Wilson III

This month marks the 60th anniversary of the “Roswell Incident,” when people in the small town of Roswell, NM claimed to have debris from a crashed alien spaceship. The incident became famous when it was reported that the government collected the remains and kept it hidden, covering up any evidence of alien life visiting Earth. What do you think? Do you believe there is intelligent life beyond our planet? Submit your answer here.

“I’d pay that much for a simple cell phone that actually worked the way you’d expect. For establishing point-to-point voice and data communications anywhere in the continental United States or beyond, cell phones fall far short of the target. More towers, less gadgetry is my motto.”- D. Brunnenmeyer

“I’m not an early adopter of new technology. If you just wait a while, the price will come down and the bugs will get worked out. I learned that the first generation of a product has bugs, the second is the most stable, and the third is where the cost-cutting usually kills it. I won’t get one now, but maybe in a year or two. I think it’s a snazzy package.”- M. Hudspeth

“No, I’m not buying an iPhone. As far as I can tell, it only offers two features that I care about that my prepaid cell phone doesn’t. 1) it costs 10 to 12 times more, and 2) the charges to use it are more in one month than a whole year of service costs me now. It’s just too big a bargain.” - F. Mierow

This week’s question paper versus plastic bags and the environment. IKEA home furnishings stores in California are now charging 5 cents per plastic bag at checkout as a way to cut back on the environmental hazards of plastic. IKEA is trying to encourage shoppers to purchase reusable canvas bags for 59 cents each.

Many shoppers are furious that they have to pay for something that should be free — namely, some way to get their purchases home. IKEA is donating each nickel spent on plastic bags to American Forests to plant trees. Is IKEA forcing shoppers to be environmentally friendly? Should we have to pay to use plastic bags? Submit your answer here.

“All too often the media is in a frenzy to get a story first. Checking and re-checking facts seems to be the exception nowadays. When they do get a story wrong, they are quick to print an apology, usually buried somewhere where it won’t be noticed.” - J. Palmiotto

“It is no surprise that elected government officials are complaining about how and what the media covers. It is much more dangerous for those officials to go unbridled. I’m sure there was this same basic argument presented when printed news became readily available on a daily basis.” - J. Guelzow

“Technology has not made the media more dangerous. Society’s ridiculous obsession with the private lives of celebrities has. The root cause is simple supply and demand; if there wasn’t such a voracious appetite for gossip, then the dangerous situations created by journalists interfering with their subjects and the people around them to get a story would be much less.” - M. Rhodes

“Technology is merely a tool, and as such, does not cause anything. The decay in ethical behavior, and the fact that most of the news media promote their own agenda, is behind the pathetic state of the news media. Having access to tools of great potential does not force one to behave unethically. Weak personal character leads to it.” - D. Miles

This week’s question concerns hype meeting reality last Friday, when the much-anticipated Apple iPhone finally went on sale. The demand was so great that buyers sat in line outside stores for more than 12 hours in order to get one. Apple and AT&T (the exclusive service provider for the iPhone) hired 2,000 extra employees to handle the iPhone rollout. So, will you be buying an iPhone? Submit your answer here.